that game against carmelo was one of the best defensive games ive seen him play...definitely as a laker. he was locked in and engaged. no one really stops carmelo, but you can slow him down...but i think artest that game did stop him. he forced carmelo into 6 fouls, 8 turnovers, he did score 21 but at 7-19 FG. ron that game had 17pts (6-13 FG 4-7 3PT) 1TO and 6 steals! if ron can bring that defense intensity when it comes to games this coming season where hes got the big defensive assignment that would be awesome. (carmelo, lebron, durant..etc)

Durant is a harder defensive assignment but ron has his strength and if he bodies him up like he did for carmelo, in that game, its gunna make it very hard for durant and if he does get past him instead of bynum or odom it would be dwight howard at the rim to help.

Ron is still a terrific one on one defender but thats the problem, teams KNOW THAT. Thats why they run more schemes and motion for the wing player Ron is guarding, sometimes you'd see double and triple screens for Durant and Lebron to set em free vs Ron. He has trouble chasing them (who wouldnt??) for 40 minutes and he just runs out of gas in the 4th (At his age who wouldnt?). Our help defense has been kinda week since the 08/09 season, Odom/Ariza/Gasol covered so much ground when they played. This is where Dwight can help, hes mobile, he can help and recover to his man. He has the IQ, know-how to defend picks and man situations

[url=http://www.latimes.com/sports/lakersnow/la-sp-ln-lat-metta-world-peace-20120919,0,4776078.story] Mark Medina of the LA Times[/url[ wrote:As he sat on the toilet, the ideas kept popping into Metta World Peace's head.

The eccentric Lakers forward says he has spent the past week preparing for his comedy act. And, well, what better way to maximize that time than when he's in the bathroom?

"That's where I get most of my ideas," World Peace said in a phone interview with The Times. "That's my alone time and that's when I figure out what I'm going to do."

So what, exactly, is World Peace going to do?

He's hosting "Comedy Slam Dunk" on Thursday from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., a charity driven stand-up at the Laugh Factory where World Peace will introduce comedians, including Tom Arnold, Alex Scott, Malik S and Chris D'Elia. In between those acts, World Peace says he plans on delivering self-written material where he will tell gay and racist jokes, roast teammates and poke fun at himself.

"I'm stereotyping everybody," World Peace said. "It'll be fun. I'm throwing out random stereotypes. I just want to make people laugh and have fun. I'm definitely going to stereotype myself. I'm going to stereotype my bipolar tendencies. I want to stereotype that. I want the people to judge for themselves tomorrow on whether I'm bipolar."

In other words, World Peace better hope NBA Commissioner David Stern isn't watching or that his material doesn't go instantly viral. The event won't be open to the media and the show is strictly forbidding camera use. But in the information age, you never know.

World Peace maintains he's not concerned about that or whether he's pushing the envelope too far. After all, the $30 tickets that can be purchased at ronartest.com will go toward a good cause. A portion of the proceeds benefit the Metta Center for Nonviolence (based in Berkeley) and World Peace's nonprofit Xcel University, which helps mental health charities.

"As reckless as I am, this stuff is really important," World Peace said. "Having it for a cause makes it more fun."

World Peace has already dabbled in stand-up comedy. He hosted a four-city comedy tour last year in Los Angeles, Orange County and New York City where he introduced acts and answered audience questions.

In the show I attended in Brea, World Peace's material involved telling X-rated jokes and poking fun at himself either through self-written material or answering fan questions. Although he's not taking fan questions in this show, World Peace still plans to take the same approach.

"If you can be funny without cursing, that's amazing," World Peace said. "But that's tough. Doing comedy is not an easy thing to do."

Yet, World Peace is willing to try, and he sounded more than eager in giving a sneak preview of one of his bits.

"I'm going to talk about some of the dreams that I have that I want to see happen at Staples Center," World Peace said. "One dream involves me being on the court in Staples Center. I'm not really participating in the game, but I'm on the court and throwing stuff and disrupting the game. I'm looking forward to telling that joke."

So what's the joke?

"You'll have to see," World Peace said with a slight laugh. "I can't tell you. It'll be fun. You have to enjoy it. I'm not as good as real comedians. But it's still cool to be able to tell jokes and have fun."

It also gives him something to pass the time when he's in the bathroom.

Metta World Peace is in absolute peak shape. Much was made last season about how MWP came in out of shape and didn’t find himself until halfway through the season due in part to injuries he wasn’t able to treat during the lockout. But he says he’s 15 pounds lighter than he was last fall, and from watching him play, he’s not lying. We interviewed Antawn Jamison after the scrimmage, and he couldn’t stop raving about how great MWP looks and is playing. With attention focused on Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard, this could spell trouble for opponents.

^^^ Is there a link somewhere to any video of the scrimmage? It kind of sounds like it with this below. Maybe he doesn't know though. Sounds good about DJO.

- Darius Johnson-Odom was described by one coach as “bouncy,” and you’ll agree when watching video of the scrimmage. The rookie was flying all over the court, even treating us to a version of J.R. Rider’s “Eastbay Funk” afterwards. DJO is the type of player that plays better when those around him are better (Las Vegas Summer League wasn’t his type of atmosphere), and his defense and athleticism stood out in the run.

Ariza3 wrote:that game against carmelo was one of the best defensive games ive seen him play...definitely as a laker. he was locked in and engaged. no one really stops carmelo, but you can slow him down...but i think artest that game did stop him. he forced carmelo into 6 fouls, 8 turnovers, he did score 21 but at 7-19 FG. ron that game had 17pts (6-13 FG 4-7 3PT) 1TO and 6 steals! if ron can bring that defense intensity when it comes to games this coming season where hes got the big defensive assignment that would be awesome. (carmelo, lebron, durant..etc)

Durant is a harder defensive assignment but ron has his strength and if he bodies him up like he did for carmelo, in that game, its gunna make it very hard for durant and if he does get past him instead of bynum or odom it would be dwight howard at the rim to help.

side note: that game kobe was 3-17 for 14 pts and 12 assists.

Man so much has changed since that game. Melo and Chauncey in Denver with their crackhead crew in Martin, Smith and Andersen, Metta World Peace when he was still Ron Artest, 37 instead of 15, Phil on the bench instead of a retard, Mawk Jackson talkin' bout "Ron Awtest" and "hand down, man down". Dayum s*** changed quick.

His movement without the ball will be critical and should be alot better since he's in peak physical form. Wide open long jumpers are something he's seen his entire time in LA, and that wont change, but when his shot is off (and even when its not) he should be hurting teams by using his strength and improved mobility to get easier baskets at the rim. He's fully capable of doing this successfully I think.

If/when he's able to make teams respect his offensive game, how do you defend this team?

"Come hell or high water we're gonna be there again. Its just something about the Lakers organization. Mitch is really, really good at it, he's really really good man...."

"Let me say one more thing about Kobe. He will be the best player in the history of the game. If he keeps doing what he's doing, there is no stopping him. He is that good." - Shaquille O'Neal in his autobiography, "Shaq Talks Back"

at Metta's body in this video. He looks almost... thin. The guy is in amazing shape. They say he's at around 250, but I feel like he's got to be lighter than that. I'm almost wondering if he's going to be thick enough to put a body on guys anymore.

at Metta's body in this video. He looks almost... thin. The guy is in amazing shape. They say he's at around 250, but I feel like he's got to be lighter than that. I'm almost wondering if he's going to be thick enough to put a body on guys anymore.

Seriously we may see Metta have a year like he hasn't matched defensively and overall impact wise including contributing on offense when needed......since his couple of best years in Indiana. In spite of a lot of strong years in between. I just think of how pumped on adrenaline he was with own his performance getting back to Ron of old finally late last year, unfortunately just as Harden ran into his elbow by accident....

But man I'm lovin' Jamison! This guy is as well spoken as D. Fish and will probably have a lot of that same leadership quality in the locker room plus be a great contributor on the court. The Wand!!!